All Good People
by Nomi's Secret
Summary: The Winchester's stay with friends after Mary's death, John leaves but the boys still grow up as hunters. They form a bond with Ali and Ronnie that is stronger than any blood tie, it seems to be destiny. Series one with two new characters.
1. The Beginning

**All Good People **

_**Chapter One- The Beginning**_

_**Disclaimer- I only own Ali, Veronica and their parents and all other knew characters and none of the Winchesters, other hunters featured in the series, heard of demons, spirits etc**_

_**Author's Note- Hey! Another fic from me but meh lol okay so what if the Winchester's had family friends in town? What if one of them was babysitting them? What if they ended up living with a pretty average family? Would they still be the same and what revelations changed their lives? Everything that isn't in this chapter about their upbringing will be explained in flashback kay? Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter Song- Mary's Song by Taylor Swift**_

Ali Hadley completed the short walk over to the Winchesters by stepping quickly up the short set of stairs leading up to their porch. She was freezing, sure she only lived two blocks away but jeez the wind was bitter, it practically ripped off the thin layer of skin on her nose, luckily she was wrapped up in a scarf, hat, thick coat and woolly gloves. Even with her thick winter coat on it still hit her like a block of ice, it was meant to be mild weather too! But that was according to the weather station upstate.

_Ha, the weather man never gets it right_, she thought to herself as she pulled out a gloved hand and quickly knocked on the front door.

It was one of the usual two storey houses you could find anywhere in Lawrence but over the past few months, it hadn't felt like…normal. She didn't know what it was, the family inside was perfectly normal. Well, normal as in John would disappear for 'work purposes' every so often but Mary she was such a good Mom, Dean now…he was pure difficult half the time he just wanted to play games and run around all the time and Sammy, baby Sammy, oh he was so cute!

Ali only babysat for them on Fridays and Saturdays when they went out for a meal or to visit family, whatever family they had. The last thing she had heard of Mary's parents was their death and that was years ago. She supposed that maybe they visited friends and stuff.

Through the glass of the door she saw a large man shaped figure approaching the door and the door opened revealing a dressed up John Winchester if there ever was one, the dark jacket and jeans suited him perfectly and his face was clean and had only just been shaved which was rare for him, "Alison"

She scowled at the man, her young eyes showing just how much she hated her name.

"Sorry, Ali" He corrected himself, he was roughly six foot two and towered above her seemingly tiny five foot five, "you forget things like that when you have as many things in my head as I do"

"Its okay" she smiled, her chapped lips beginning to crack, she heard a noise coming from the kitchen beyond the hall and looked over his shoulder. On the base of the stairs she could have sworn seeing a shadow out of the corner of her eye, things like that scared the hell out of her but only because she didn't know what they were.

John moved out of the way so she could get in the house, "Thanks for this, bit short notice but it's our anniversary"

She laughed quietly as she entered the house and started taking off her outer layers, "Its fine, not as if they're much trouble anyway"

A small blonde haired figure appeared in the light emitting from the living room doorway and grinned at her obviously pleased she was there. He was always happy to see someone he knew.

"Well…" she added, "when he's asleep he's not"

The boy's expression soured and he folded his arms over his blue pyjamas, his jade green eyes portrayed just how happy he was though. Even though Ali was nearly ten years older she had a little sister the same age and the pout made her heart slowly melt.

His concentration was broken when the voice of his mom cut through the air, "Dean," she appeared next to him lowering herself to his level, "you be good now okay? And look after your brother"

"Okay" he said and she kissed him on the forehead, he quickly wiped the kiss away as all young boys do.

"Sammy's sleeping in the travel cot in the living room and Dean's bed time is the usual Ali" she told her, the older woman had always felt like that aunt she never actually had.

Ali nodded knowing he was to be in bed for half past eight and she'd take Sammy up at the same time, "Sure thing Mrs Winchester, have a nice time"

Mary smiled at the thirteen year old before leaving the house with her husband in the black Chevy Impala that was seriously too cool.

After they left she looked at her watch, "hmm, only seven o'clock…what do you want to do?"

Dean's eyes widened, "Cartoons!" he shouted energetically.

"Shhhh" she put her finger to her lips, "quiet or it'll be an early bedtime"

He copied her placing his finger over his lips before stalking into the living room and sitting on the sofa without making a noise. She followed him in and quickly checked on Sammy, the six month old baby was sleeping peacefully in the travel cot completely unaware that she was staring at him. Actually Sammy was exactly six months old today.

"Happy half birthday kid" she whispered before turning her attention back to the older brother who grinned at her.

After that they watched a complete hour of cartoons, The Flintstones, The Jepson's, Scooby Doo, you name it, they watched it. At eight Dean looked at her pleadingly while his stomach growled.

"Cereal?" she whispered as they sat in the dark and Yabba Daba do crackled over the TV.

He nodded before jumping off the sofa and running into the kitchen, when she caught up with him and turned on the light he was already in the cupboard getting his favourite cereal box out.

He climbed up on to the kitchen side by using one of the stools, Ali got him the bowl and the milk and the spoon. She was surprised by how independent he was and he was only four! She had only took Mr Winchester half seriously when he heard him telling her Mom about how he was teaching to do things himself, next it was going to be defending himself he'd joked.

He managed to get the cereal in the bowl and the milk but when he climbed off the stool he knocked the cereal box off the side scattering the contents all over the kitchen floor.

Dean looked up at her expecting her to shout or something but she merely said, "Look behind you next time, now help me clean this up"

She got down on all fours and collected the cereal in her hands with him copying her, he always did as he was told unlike most kids his age, "so what did you do at school?"

He didn't say much about school, "just stuff, did some colouring, then I went to the park with Dad and he taught me how to…" his voice had started to get louder then he went quiet all together.

Ali looked up at him concerned, "you okay?"

Before he could answer something smashed upstairs shocking both of them and waking Sammy up, his crying reached them almost instantly. She looked around for a weapon or something and found it in the form of a baseball bat on the floor nearby.

"Dean, go in the living room and look after your brother okay? Stop him crying while I go upstairs, if I'm not back in ten minutes go over to Mrs Hurtz's house and call the police okay?" she told him what to do in a whisper, she saw him nod and escorted him into the living room, he picked Sammy up and calmed him down quickly.

She took a deep breath before proceeding up the stairs, the baseball bat tight in her hand, it was dark up there but turning the light on would tell them she was there and make her vulnerable.

_Okay, so now I thank John for teaching me basic defence and attack…_

She reached the top of the stairs, took another breath and entered the first room which was the nursery, it was empty, nothing broken.

The next room along was the master bedroom, same deal there. Everything in perfect condition she checked the closets and behind the doors.

Then it was Dean's room, it was a mess but nothing out of the ordinary in there. He had a habit for just leaving things where they were unless he was told to move them.

Finally it was the bathroom, the light was on and the door was nearly closed so only a small shaft of light escaped into the hallway. She raised the bat above her head and used her left hand to slowly push the door open, she looked around and there was nothing there. She walked into the room and stood on something that crunched underfoot, after looking down she saw a mirror shattered into over a million pieces on the cold floor. Ali stared at them for a while watching her own fractured reflection, her almond coloured eyes staring back up at her, her pale skin and thick blonde hair framing her oval face.

She sighed and shouted down to the boys that everything was fine, Sammy had stopped crying long ago and Ali suspected he's gone back to sleep, Dean on the other hand appeared at the door to watch her clean up.

"What was it?" he quizzed her.

"A mirror" she said quietly.

"But…how did it fall?" he wondered.

"By accident" she replied

"But nothing happens by accident" he sounds too cynical for a four year old.

She sighed, "Sometimes it does", she looked at her watch, "anyway its half eight, go get ready for bed"

Dean's face furrowed and left to go into his room, Ali finished up in the bathroom before going down stairs and getting Sammy out of the travel cot. He was getting heavier by the day it seemed, he was wrapped up in a blanket and she took him upstairs. When she was about to place him in the cot he stretched and yawned making Ali smile at just how cute he was.

She'd put him in the cot in the nursery and checked on Dean again, "you brushed your teeth?"

"Yes" he said while he was sat up in bed.

She nodded, "what about the toilet? You gone?"

"Yes" he said again.

"Right then, I'll be down stairs till your parents get back okay? Now go to sleep" Ali tucked him in and turned the soft nightlight on before going downstairs and watching some television.

* * *

For the next two hours Ali was sat in the living room watching the TV on quiet while flicking through the channels. She heard a few noises upstairs but just assumed that it was Dean messing around in his room, maybe he decided to change the nightlight colours or something. But she wasn't bothered, kids won't sleep until everything is fine and they'll do anything to get it that way. No point in shouting at them for it.

At half past ten, Mr and Mrs Winchester arrived back at their home. Ali was waiting for them with a full report of what had happened. They weren't drunk but they were very happy when they came through the door.

She smiled at them, "you have a good time?"

Mrs Winchester laughed, "Yes! I never realised how romantic my husband was"

Mr Winchester looked down at the floor for while slightly embarrassed at his wife's compliment, "anyway Ali I'll give you a lift back home"

"Thanks but some stuff happened tonight" she told them, "Nothing bad just I thought I should tell you"

"Oh well go ahead" Mr Winchester said as he walked in to the kitchen and got some coffee, Ali followed him.

Mrs Winchester called after them, "thank you Ali and John I'm going to get changed and check on the boys!"

"Okay honey" he shouted back as she walked upstairs, "what happened?"

He had looked around and noticed that the baseball bat was missing from its spot near the back door.

"Well, first Dean got his own cereal out but he knocked the box off the counter so most of it was on the floor, that's why there's only a little bit left and" she paused for an intake of breath, "a mirror got smashed upstairs"

"What?" he seemed confused over the mirror part of the explanation.

"Me and Dean was clearing up the cereal then the mirror in the bathroom smashed, I told Dean to go into the living room with Sammy and look after him, I checked the house and took the baseball bat with me" she then shrugged, "no one did it, it was an accident by the looks of it"

"Trust me kid, nothing happens by accident" Mr Winchester told her knowingly while stirring his coffee.

Ali looked at him perplexed wondering how much Dean was getting off of his dad.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, just Dean said the same thing that's all" she looked away.

He looked as though he was going to reply but a harsh terrifying scream filled the air, "Mary!" he screeched and ran up the stairs.

Ali ran after him wondering what the hell could have happened, had Dean tripped and fallen over and there was blood? Was Sammy still in his cot? Was Sammy breathing?!

This thought shocked her into running down the corridor even quicker when she reached the nursery she saw Mr Winchester stood at the door way looking at the ceiling, Dean was stood at the door to his own room looking at both of them. Suddenly a fire appeared in the nursery and engulfed everywhere, Mr Winchester rushed in a grabbed Sammy from the cot before handing him to Dean, "take him outside Dean, follow Ali and don't come back in okay"

The boy nodded and the man kissed both his children on the forehead while the fire grew stronger.

He shouted to Ali, "Phone the fire department and ambulance!"

She nodded as the two youngster came towards her, "is she okay?!"

He didn't reply and she turned hurrying Dean down the stairs and outside, luckily the door was unlocked. They stood outside on the road looking out over the house and the street. One of the neighbours opened their doors to stare and Ali shouted at them to phone the ambulance and fire department. It was Mrs Hurtz and she also took the liberty of phoning her parents who arrived at the same time as the emergency services. Mr Winchester still hadn't come out and Ali clutched on to Dean's shoulders, he was still holding Sammy and he started to shiver. Whether it was what had happened or cause it was cold she couldn't tell but she took off her hoodie and wrapped it around the younger children.

Her dad ran over to her while her mom got Veronica out of the car and carried her over in her arms, he was dressed in pyjamas and a dressing gown with slippers, he hadn't had time to get dressed, his still thick bright blonde hair and blue-grey eyes made him stick out, "what happened?"

"I don't know, a fire..." she was dumbstruck as the fire fighters entered the house, "in the nursery"

When her mom came over she looked at the three children and took them all in a tight embrace with her own sleepy four year in her arms, "oh god, Harry get them in the car and turn the heating up!"

Her Mom had kind amber eyes and dark brown hair that matched her paler skin, she was thin with subtle curves hidden under her dressing gown and nighty.

* * *

The three of them were then in the small Volvo, Dean had refused to give up Sammy until his dad walked out of the house. Veronica was now fully awake in the front seat while Ali was also in the back. Veronica turned around to Dean and gave him a small token. It was one of those game cards with cars on them, it was a Chevy impala. He accepted it and put it in his pocket before looking back at the house. Veronica was the same age as Dean but they went to different schools, she had the same sparkling blue grey eyes of her father yet the dark hair colour of her mother. She was also wrapped up in a blanket and pyjamas.

After a few more nail biting moments John Winchester walked out of the house very much alive and everyone sighed in relief. The paramedics tried to give him a once over but he wouldn't have it, instead he walked right up to the car and opened the door where Dean and Sam were. He hugged them tightly and the smell of ash and fire and something else, something musky drifted through the car. All the children would remember that smell for the rest of their lives, it was as if it tied them together forever.

Ali's parent s appeared and spoke to him, "I'm so sorry john" her mother said sympathetically, "You can stay with us for as long as possible" her dad told him being the true and possibly only family friend of the Winchesters in Lawrence.

Mr Winchester replied simply, "look after my boys...I...I'll be sticking around for a few days for the funeral then I'm going on a road trip bit I'll come back every few months"

Then he turned to his sons while Ali and Veronica looked on in curiosity and horror, "boys, you..." he struggled with the words as tears rolled down his face, "you Mom's...she's...she's dead"

Dean started crying but his father looked him in the eyes, "you're gonna have to do me a big favour okay? You're gonna have to look after Sammy and you also need to do what Mr and Mrs Hadley say okay?"

The boy nodded as tears swelled in his eyes, "why you're going Dad?"

"I'll explain everything one day, just look after your brother for me and your Mom" John Winchester told him.

That one day didnt come for ten years...


	2. Journal

**Chapter Two- Journal**

_**Author's Note- hey I know in the last chapter it said 10 years later but you'll figure that out later, hope you enjoy this one!**_

_**Chapter Song- Life Of My Own by Three Doors Down**_

Twenty Two Years Later

Sam Winchester was stood in the bed room of his student apartment that he shared with his girlfriend, Jessica Moore. The apartment wasn't much but it was on the campus of one of Stanford's colleges, it had about three rooms, the bedroom, the bathroom and the living room. The walls were mainly brown in colour and posters decorated them. He finished putting his shirt on when Jess called him.

"Sam! Get a move on would ya, were meant to be there in like fifteen minutes" she shouted to him.

He smiled but chose to ignore her calls. Jess was probably the best thing to happen to Sam in a long time, of course he'd had nice people in his life, Mr and Mrs Hadley, his parents, Ali, Ronnie and Dean. The brother he hadn't seen in years because of his oversensitive rejection complex, not that he really cared, it was his problem not Sam's. He closed his eyes as the memories came back, the pure hurt in his eyes, the shock, then the anger and finally the words that scarred him for life.

"You coming or what?" Jess's voice sounded in his ears, "Sam?"

He opened his eyes facing his own reflection in the mirror his brown hair curly at his ears and nearly falling into his eyes. He poked his head around the bedroom door to see her stood wearing a red and white, Halloween nurses outfit, her curly blonde hair held a cute little hair, "Do I have to?"

"It'll be fun" she cooed, "and where's your costume?"

Sam scoffed and looked at the picture of his parents, they were smiling and happy, he felt grief, "you know how I feel about Halloween"

She smiled at him, "please?"

He laughed, "Only a few drinks and no costume"

He grabbed his coat and they made for the local bar.

* * *

The bar was holding a Halloween party and Sam was sat on a stool at a table away from the main buzz of the party. Jess and Craig were stood at the same table, he had come dressed as a zombie complete with face paint and torn clothes.

"Here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory" Jess raised her glass to him.

He shook his head and took a swig of his own drink, "alright alright it's not that big a deal"

She disagreed and told Craig, "he acts all humble but he scored a one seventy four"

"Hmm" he looked at Sam then at Jess, "is that good?"

"Scary good" she told him.

"See?" Craig put his arm around Sam, "there you go you are first draft pick, you can go to any law school you want!"

Sam got hold of his friends arm and removed it while laughing, "Actually I got an interview here Monday, and if it goes okay I think I got a shot at a full ride next year"

But he didn't seem convinced and he took another sip of his drink this time it was bigger than the last one.

"Hey" Jess grabbed his hand, "it's gonna go fine"

"It better" he said while squeezing her hand.

Craig tried to cheer him up, "so how does it feel to be the golden boy of the family"

"Ah, only Ali knows" Sam said, "but she's not quite family so doesn't count"

"Ali?" he questioned, "and anyway I'd be gloating"

He shook his head, "my as good as sister and we are not the Brady's, we're not close"

"And I'm not exactly the Huxtables but I'd still gloat if I was you" Craig laughed, "More shots anyone?"

"No" Sam called after him, "no more"

Jess shouted a bit louder "no thanks" then she turned to Sam, "seriously I am so proud of you and you're gonna knock them dead on Monday"

He smiled and leant in, "what would I do without you?"

"Crash and burn" she laughed before leaning in to, their lips touched and moved softly in rhythm with each other.

"I love you" Sam told her after pulling away.

Jess smiled, "I love you too."

* * *

Sam rolled over half sleep in the bed his shared with Jess and heard something move in the next room. He was confused then he heard it again, slowly getting up he walked over to the door way and saw a shadowy figure looking at the picture of his parents. That was what set him in edge, he glared at the thing, and its back was to him so he took the opportunity to attack it.

He lunged wrapping his arms around its back, he was thrown to the other side of the room and Sam could've sworn there were jade green eyes staring back. He kicked at the man knocking him backwards but he was more practised and pinned him to the floor where light coming in the window from a street lamp illuminated the man's face. His eyes were green and he had way ward blond hair.

"Whoa" came a familiar voice he hadn't heard since he was eighteen, "Easy tiger"

Sam breathed heavily and stared at the image, ghost almost of his older brother, "Dean?"

Dean laughed and he seemed to have forgotten the argument, Sam's anger started to rise steadily.

"You scared the crap outta me" he said trying to relax.

"Well that's cause you're out of practise, baby brother" the older man said.

He kicked out from underneath his body which let him free and took the opportunity to let the anger take over and punch him in the face. His right fist came into contact with Dean's nose causing it to bleed.

"Whatcha do that for!?" Dean said while holding on to his bloody nose and grabbing some tissues.

Sam looked at him and lowered his fists, "maybe because of what you said a while back"

"I didn't punch you in the goddam face Sammy!" he roared.

He scoffed, "no but I think 'you're abandoning me, don't bother coming back, go live your easy life without thinking about the rest of us' accounts for it, what you doing here anyway?"

"Looking for a freakin' beer to use as a painkiller, maybe something stronger" he said with a sideways glance.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked again.

He laughed shortly, "I knew this wasn't going to be a happy reunion but-"

"Dean" he said.

He put his free hand up in surrender, "okay okay, we need to talk"

"Ever heard of the phone?" he asked.

Dean shook his head, "would you have picked up?"

Before he could answer Jess appeared at the door, "what's going on?"

"Jess" Sam said wondering what she would think of the scene before her, "Dean, this is my girlfriend Jessica"

Dean's eyebrow cocked as he looked her up and down, she was wearing a smurfs shirt and shorts, _aww why the hell do I have to have tissue up my nose?_

"Wait" she said looking at him, "You're brother Dean?"

He nodded, "yeah and let me just tell you, you're so out of his league, the smurfs are cute"

"Let me just put something on" she said looking at the state of his nose.

Dean refused, "no, no I won't hear of it"

Jess walked towards him and slapped him right across the face, "after everything you've done to Sam you come in here and hit on me?"

He rubbed his cheek with his free hand and looked at his brother who was smirking to himself, "uh nice meeting you, now can we talk or not?" he eyed Jess, "privately? No offence"

"No, whatever you have to say you can say it in front of her" Sam was adamant and put his arm around his girlfriend.

Dean's insides panged at this, it looked like Sam had everything at twenty two, just like he had and he'd thrown it all away, he didn't want that to happen to Sam, "fine, you know Dad's journal?"

"Yeah, he used to have it all the time, they never found it" he said.

"Yeah well...someone has" he said with his jaw set and looking at the floor, "just a few days ago"

Sam knew it right away, his brother was scared, for all the talk, all the fight underneath he was just an ordinary man dealing with terrifying shit.

"Jess excuse us" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.


	3. Alive?

**Chapter Three- Alive?**

_**Author's Note- Hey! Here you go! Hope you enjoy this one! It hurt my head to sort around with the words lol. And the italics is a flashback! Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter Song- Photograph by Nickelback **_

Sam led his brother down the stairs in his apartment block and turned to look at him, "So what are you expecting? It couldn't stay hidden forever right?"

"Look I'm telling you something's not right about it" Dean told him, "When Dad died he went over that cliff right? Took his pickup and everything inside it with him including the journal so you tell me something's not up when it turns up in my car"

"Wait" he said, "it turned up in your car"

"Yeah!" The older guy told him, "I was busting up this coven of witches in Illinois and afterwards I fill up the car with gas at a station and I come back and it's on the passenger seat"

"So you didn't see who put it there?" Sam asked.

"No, if I saw them I wouldn't be here would I college boy?" he looked at him and shook his head, "I don't know, they never found Dad's body either"

"Dean look there's no way he could have survived that," he said, "there's no way anyone could survive that"

Dean sighed but didn't answer.

Sam started talking again, "So what are you going to do?"

"I think you mean we, Sammy" he said.

"Its Sam" he said and didn't want to get angry, "and I'm not going to come with you"

They walked down another set of stairs, "Why not?" Dean asked.

"Oh come on, after everything that's happened, then the break in, in the middle of the night and you expect me to hit the road with you?" he was dumbstruck.

"You're not hearing me on this" he said desperately, "if it's not Dad then someone else had it and brought it back, it could be anything that did that"

Sam sighed.

Dean pleaded, "look what's in the past is in the past but I need your help on this one, please"

He shook his head, "Can't help you Dean"

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I swore I was done hunting for good" he said and they were finally on the ground floor.

"Oh come on!" he said, "it wasn't easy but it wasn't that bad"

The other man scoffed, "Oh yeah in between the arguments that you and Ronnie had and you remember when Dad came back from one of his trips and I said I was scared of the closet?"

"Yeah" Dean said flinching at the name of the woman.

"He gave me a .45, not a hug or a 'there's no reason to be afraid of the dark'" Sam said.

"And?" he asked.

"I was nine!" he shouted, "nine years old and we only saw him every couple of months!"

He scoffed, "no reason to be afraid of the dark...you know what the hell is out there"

"I know but" he paused, "when we lived with the Hadley's and Dad wasn't there we had normal lives, until he showed up and then he used to train us like warriors so we could kill the thing that killed Mom and if we couldn't find it we'd kill everything evil we found"

"Save a hell of a lot of people doing it too" Dean said and he walked outside to where he had parked his black Chevrolet Impala.

"And would Mom have wanted that? Our only memory of Dad to be a hunter? To grow up with family friends? To get them involved in it too?" Sam asked.

He stopped halfway to his car, "and what? Even when you know that son of a bitch that did this is out there somewhere you're gonna go live a normal apple pie life?"

"No" he said, "not normal, safe"

"That's why you walked away?" Dean asked.

He shook his head, "I was just going to college, and it was you who took it personally, you were the one who thought I was abandoning the cause to find their killer and that if I was going to leave I should stay gone."

Dean fobbed him off, "yeah, yeah, yeah. There was also a note on that journal, co-ordinates, if Dad's alive that's where he'll be, I need your help"

"Yeah you can" he said, "you could get Ali or Ronnie, you don't need me"

"Maybe I don't want them" his voice was light, "I want you"

"So what do these co-ordinates say?" Sam said finally giving in.

Dean walked around and opened the trunk, propping it open with a riot gun. He looked through the various different guns and knives he had used throughout his hunting career, he pulled out a small leather bound book and a scrap of note paper.

"The journal" he held up the book and then held up the paper, "the note"

"Right" he wondered where this was leading.

"They point to a town called Jericho, California and I did some research on the place see why Dad or anyone would be there, nothing suspicious apart from this guy" he handed his younger brother a newspaper clipping, "the cops found his car but he vanished, completely M.I.A"

Sam shook his head, "Maybe he was kidnapped?"

"Yeah well, there's more" he handed him more clippings, "another one in April, December, 04, 03, 98, 92, ten of them over the past twenty years all on the same five mile stretch of road and I took the liberty of calling one of those call boxes on that same road"

"What you get?" he asked.

Dean pulled out a tape recorder, "Nothing at first, someone picked it up but it was all static"

He pressed play and Sam tried to listen though the static, "EVP"

"Not bad," he complimented, "I ran it through Gold Wave and took out the hiss and I got this"

He pressed play again, they heard a woman's voice over the background noise, "I can never go home"

"Never go home" Sam mulled over it.

He closed the trunk and turned to his brother, "You know, in four years I have never asked you for anything, haven't bothered you, let you get on with your safe life"

"All right, all right" he caved, "I'll go and I'll help you figure out what the hell happened but I need to be back first thing Monday, just wait here"

Sam started to walk back into the building but Dean's curiosity overcame him.

"What's first thing Monday?" he asked.

He paused for a second, "I have this, I have this interview"

"Job interview?" he wondered, "skip it"

"It's a law school interview" Sam told him, "and my whole future on a plate"

"Law school?" he asked again and felt the same feeling of loss he did when Sam told him he was going to college.

------------------

_It had been four years ago and him and Ronnie had taken Sam on for a summer so he could really learn to use the skills Ali had taught him. At the end of it after they had finished off a voodoo cult in New Orleans and they were sat in the car driving back up to north Idaho so they could see Ali._

_Dean had been driving as usual and Ronnie was sat in the passenger seat, she had been reading a newspaper and highlighting anything she thought was interesting. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a thin black cord and fell down her back, her blue grey eyes drifting slowly over the pages._

_Sam was in the back staring out of the window and trying to ignore the Metallica that was playing loudly, he finally plucked up the courage to tell his big brother, "Dean"_

"_Yeah?" he asked looking at him through the rear view mirror._

"_I'm going to Stanford" he said quietly._

_Dean laughed, "What kind of nasty we got there then?"_

"_Dean" Ronnie had said quietly._

_Sam spoke over her, "I'm going to college"_

"_What?" the car came to a standstill at the side of the road and Dean got out._

_He had been stood looking out over the freshly harvested fields of late August and he had heard the car door open and close. Sam was then stood next to him and Dean pushed back the tears._

"_I'm sorry but, it's what I want to do" he told him._

_-------------------_

Dean sighed and tried to forget what had happened between them, something that ended up ruining his life. He realised that Sam had gone back inside to pack a few things so he walked around and sat down in the driver's seat before getting out the tattered old car card from his back pocket. He looked at it, its flimsy edges, its fading colour and wondered what had happened if none of it had ever happened.

-------------------

Sam was back in his room packing clothes and stuff into his duffle back. He picked up his knife from under the bed and put that in too just before Jess walked through the door and came and sat on the bed. He continued packing.

"You're taking off?" she asked, "because you're Dad's journal has turned up, Sam is everything okay?"

"Its fine, just we've got a few things to check out" he smiled at her, "the usual, family drama"

"But your brother said it just turned up...has other things turned up?" she asked him.

He knew what she was thinking, "no nothing else has turned up but we want to look through it and stuff"

"Oh okay" then another thought entered her head, "what about the interview?"

"I'll make the interview" he said confidently, "it's only for a couple of days"

Sam kissed her on the cheek before making his way out of the door.

"Sam" she said, "are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yes, Jess everything is okay" he soothed her.

She thought before she said anything else, "it's just you barely talk about your family yet your now going somewhere with your brother and Monday is a big deal"

"Everything will be okay" he smiled at her, "i promise"

"Can you at least tell me where you're going?" she asked but he was already out of the apartment.

Sam walked down the several flights of stairs back to where the Impala was parked.


	4. Einstein

**Chapter Four- Einstein**

_**Author's Note- Hey! Sorry this took a while! Hope you enjoy it! It seems that Sam's starting to pick faults with his brother! Enjoy! **_

_**Chapter Song- Fake It by Seether, i have to thank ParaCaerOuVoar for the suggestion =D**_

Dean drove the car over to Jericho through the rest of the night and most of the morning while Sam was sat next to him in the passenger seat, they didn't talk in the five hours it took them to just get to the country that it was in and pull into a gas station. This was mainly because Sam fell asleep after half an hour but he didn't mind, it was nice to be in close quarters with his brother without arguing for a few hours.

It was half past ten when they pulled in the gas station to fill the Impala up, Dean left Sam half asleep in the car while he went and paid.

--------------

Sam yawned as he watched his big brother hook the pump up and go pay, there was still sleep in his eyes and he rubbed them as he tried to wake himself up. He looked around and noticed a cardboard box resting on the back seat. He reached his long arms around so he could pick it up and sit it on his lap. To his surprise it contained over thirty cassette tapes. He looked through them and stared at the labels. AC/DC. Black Sabbath. Motorhead. He sighed as he saw Dean around the back of the car unhooking the pump.

He then waved at Sam with cereal bars and juice in his hand, "you want breakfast?"

His immediate reaction was top screw one side of his face up, "Erm no thanks" then Sam thought about something, "How'd you pay for all that? You still running credit card scams?"

Dean nodded as he walked around to his side of the car and peered through the window, "yeah well hunting isn't exactly a pro-ball career"

"I know Dean" he said snappily, this was something that always caught his nerve, "what if those people actually exist? You could make their lives hell!"

"Jeez!" was his only reaction at first when he walked around the front of the car and sat in the driver's seat, "don't get your panties all tied up, i only send off the application it's not my fault the suits send me the cards"

He laughed bitterly, "sure and who's name did you write on it this time?" he stopped and waited for the reply.

"Bert Aframian and his son Hector" he said shortly and tried to hold his temper in as he let his brother rant.

"How did you even do it? I mean Ronnie was the only one smart enough to do it and not get caught!" he seethed as he let a small portion of the four years of neglect and anger seep out.

Dean flinched as he heard the name and it took a few seconds for him to recover and by that time Sam was back on the onslaught.

"Ha! And come on, you're not exactly Einstein are you?" he was saying.

He gritted his teeth.

"Hey, i even know why you keep doing this" he started, "it's not because of the thing that killed Mom or may have killed Dad, it's because you have nothing to go back to. Mom's dead, the Hadley's are dead, Ali has a family. I left you. She left you. You have nothing to go back too and i have nearly everything, that's why you didn't want me to go to Stanford in the first place"

Finally Dean snapped, "Shut up! How the hell do you know anything about me? Huh, I've been outta your life for four goddam years. You've been at college with a pretty little girlfriend and I've been out on the road working and you still think you know me in and out! Well i got news for you Sammy, you don't"

---------

After that Sam decided to do as he was told and stared out of the open window at the California countryside as both men allowed the anger to leave them.

When they were on the road and just driving on the main road into Jericho Sam dared open his mouth, but he had several false starts as he looked across at the driver whose jaw was set and his eyes staring hard on the road.

"So..." he started and he didn't respond, "Where would Dad start looking if he is here?"

Dean shrugged, "i don't know, maybe the crime scene or the cases of the other guys"

Sam nodded warily, he was fully aware that he had over stepped the mark earlier and swallowed the lump forming in his throat before trying to make a joke and smiled, "you know, you really need to update your cassette tape collection"

"Oh yeah" he said distantly with his eyes still on the dusty road, "why's that?"

"Because for one they're cassette tapes" he tried hard to lighten the situation, "and two" he pulled out several tapes from the box still on his lap, "Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica? Dude this is the greatest hits of mullet rock!"

He looked over tearing his eyes away from the tarmac and grabbed the Metallica tape out of his hand and slotted it into the player, "So? House rules Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole"

The words had a sort of edge to them and he realised it was going to take a while for the effects of the argument to wear off and Dean turned the music up. Whiplash sounded through the car.

Sam gulped, "its Sam. Sammy is a chubby twelve year old"

"Sorry!" Dean shouted, "Can't hear you, the music's too loud!"

-----------

A while later they drove past a sign that told them that the town was seven miles away. Sam was busy talking on the phone while Dean carried on driving at a steady speed just under the limit.

"Okay, thanks anyway" Sam said as he hung up his cell phone and turned to him, "Well there's no sign of anyone matching Dad's description at the police station or morgue...i guess that narrows the search down"

He placed the phone to his mouth as he thought of where else he could be.

Dean piped up, "well it's been twelve years, he might have a whole new look"

"Or he could look exactly the same" he said.

They didn't continue the conversation as they noticed police cars at the start of a bridge crossing a river. There were two of them and Dean parked up nearby before leaning over to the glove box and pulling out two fake IDs.

"Let's go" he said as he got out of the car after handing Sam an ID.

He glanced at it momentarily before opening the door and following him down the bridge. They walked confidently up to the police officers and they noticed the abandoned car with splatter marks on the inside of the windscreen.

Dean gave him a sideways glance and raised his eyebrows just as one of the policemen shouted out the edge of the bridge to some divers on the riverside.

"Did you guys find anything?" he asked.

The distant reply was, "No! Nothing!"

His colleague who was sat in the car also replied, "No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless, it's almost too clean…"

The other policemen turned to him, "so this Troy kid was dating your daughter?"

"Yeah" was the only thing the other man said as he carried on looking in the car.

"How's Amy taking it?" he asked concerned.

He sighed, "She's putting up missing posters in town"

Dean had been stood listening to their conversation with Sam next to him for a little while before clearing his throat, "You guys had another one like this a month ago didn't ya?"

The more senior police officer looked at them, "Who are you?"

He pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans before flashing his fake ID and a stolen US Marshall badge, "federal Marshalls"

"You two are a little too young to be Marshalls aren't you?" he asked as he studied the badges before waving them away.

Dean laughed and put his wallet away, "thanks, that's awfully kind of you, but you did have another gig like this correct?"

"Yeah about one mile up the road and there's been others before that too" he told them.

Sam bit his lip as he thought back to their conversation, "So you knew the victim?"

He nodded, "in a town like this everybody knows everybody"

Dean walked around to the other side of the car taking in every detail of the blood splatter, "any connections between the victims apart from they're all men?"

"None that we can tell" he told them.

"So what's the theory?" Sam asked as he walked over next to Dean on the other side of the car to the policeman.

"Honestly?" he asked, "we don't know. Could be a serial killer or a kidnapping ring for all we know"

Dean laughed, "Well that's the exact type of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys"

Sam momentarily lost it and stamped his foot hard on to his brothers, he held in the curse words he wanted to scream.

"Thank you for your time" Sam said to them before Dean could say anything else, "Gentlemen"

They walked back to the car and when they were a safe distance away the shorter brother smacked the other around the back of the head.

"What was that for?" Sam asked.

"Why'd you have to step on my foot!" the other asked in a hushed voice because another car had just pulled up.

"Why'd you have to talk to police like that?" he retorted.

"Come on." Dean said, "They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean if we're gonna find Dad we've gotta get to the bottom of this thing ourselves"

"That's if Dads even alive" he said coldly, "and you really think talking to police like that is going to make them cooperate?"

He laughed, "No but I think I know a hell of a lot more about cases than you do"

Out of the nearby car several officers from the station down town including the Sheriff walked towards them

"Can I help you boys?" he asked the two seething brothers.

"No sir, we were just leaving." The older one told them and he added sarcastically to the two other officers with them as he walked past, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully."

When they were near the car Sam picked up the argument where it was left of, "That's exactly what I mean!"

"What?" he asked with his mouth partially open.

He gestured back up the bridge, "Agent Mulder? Agent Scully?"

"Ugh that's nothin'" was all he said as slid into the driver's seat choosing to ignore his brother's comments.


	5. One Of Us

**Chapter Five- One Of Us**

_You have Rachy to thank for this update. I was almost forced into writing this XD Enjoy!_

A little while later Dean was wandering aimlessly through the town centre whereas Sam followed him around taking in the people walking past them. He wanted to get back to Jess, he wanted to leave Dean but in the end he just couldn't do it. After everything that had happened they were still brothers and the situation about their father's death was something he couldn't ignore.

Suddenly the older man stopped and pointed to where a girl was putting up a missing poster on a window inside the diner on the other side of the road. Sam nodded and they both made their way over.

"I bet that's her" Dean told him as they entered the small place.

Sam shrugged, "yeah"

They approached her and she looked at them curiously.

"You must be Amy?" Dean asked casually.

"Yeah" she was dressed in dark clothes and seemed a little more than just sad.

"Troy told us about you, we're his uncles" he lied, "I'm Dean and this is Sammy"

Sam gave him a glare but quickly changed it in to a smile when Amy noticed.

"I'm sorry but he never mentioned you to me" her voice was light and she sat down in a booth and sipped on her milkshake.

The older Winchester sat down too, sliding close to the window, "Well that's Troy I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto"

Sam followed his lead and sat down too, "so we're looking for him too, asking around."

One of Amy's friends came to join her sitting down too, she was a full on Goth, "hey are you okay?"

Amy nodded half heartedly, "yeah"

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asked kindly and looked up at the missing poster hanging in the window, "what was the last time you heard from him?"

"The other night, I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and he never did." She gulped to steady herself.

He asked her, "He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?"

"No," she shook her head, "nothing I can remember"

He pointed to the symbol around her neck, "I like your necklace"

She smiled, "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."

"Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil, really powerful." He started and Dean gave him a 'can it' look, "I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing"

"Okay, thank you Unsolved Mysteries" Dean said annoyingly, "Here's the deal ladies--the way Troy disappeared—something's not right. So if you've heard anything…"

Amy and her friend shared a glance.

"What is it?" he wondered.

"Tell him Louise" Amy prompted.

She seemed a little shy, "Well, it's just…with all these guys going missing, people talk"

Sam and Dean asked at the same time, "What do they talk about?"

"It's kind of this local legend" she took a breath and carried on, "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial like…decades ago. Well supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up and well, they disappear forever"

"Huh" was all Dean said and got a napkin and scrawled his cell number on it, "you girls think of anything else just give me a call"

An hour later Dean was sat at the local library staring at a computer. He tapped clumsily on the keys typing in 'Female Murder Hitchhiking'. There were no results found.

He heard Sam tut beside him. He chose to ignore it and type in 'Female Murder Centennial Highway'. Again there were no results found.

Sam couldn't stand it any longer and tried to grab the mouse away from him, "let me try"

Dean scowled and smacked his brother's hand, "I got it"

He got his own back though. He simply rolled his chair out of the way and took over, "you're such a control freak"

Dean rolled back over, "oh yeah? Maybe that's 'cause I've had to do this by myself for four years"

"It's your own fault" Sam chimed, "and how exactly do you manage to use a computer? It took you like ten times to type female"

"We're not all freakin' Stanford undergrads" he commented.

"No but everyone with opposable thumbs can use a computer Dean" he slung back, "no wonder Ronnie did all the leg work"

Dean went quite and scowled silently at the wall. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them for a few minutes. Sam knew he'd gone too far and even though he'd only been around him for a day he was starting to feel guilty.

He whistled, "So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?"

"Yeah" he said in a sour voice.

"So Maybe it's not murder" Sam suggested and typed in 'Female Suicide Centennial Highway' and several results popped up on the screen. He read from an old newspaper article, "nineteen eighty one. Constance Welch, twenty four years old. Jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river."

He perked up but was still moody, "Does it say why she did it?"

"Yeah. An hour before they found her, she calls nine one one. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute, she comes back, and they aren't breathing. Both die" he summed up most of the article.

"Hmm" was all Dean had to say.

"'Our baby's were gone and Constance just couldn't bear it' said husband, Joseph Welch" he read aloud.

He looked on to the screen and saw a photograph of a bridge, "That Bridge look familiar to you?"

"Uh-huh" he sighed and they headed out to the old bridge.

It had been quite in the drive over to the bridge with neither of the brothers choosing or wanting to talk first. Dean was pissed with Sam and Sam just wasn't going to apologise. They left the Impala back at the top end of the bridge and walked out to about half way down. It was dark now and they decided to get on with business.

"So this is where she took the swan dive" Dean said to himself.

Sam scowled, he hated how he spoke about people, "so you think Dad would've been here? If it was him?"

"Any good hunter would. He's gotta be chasing this same story and we're chasing him" he said distantly.

"Okay so now what?" he asked.

He sighed, "We keep digging till we find him. Or someone. It might take a while"

Sam started to protest, "Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by-"

He fobbed him off, "Monday. Right, the interview."

"Yeah" he confirmed quietly.

He scoffed, "Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer? Marry your girl?"

Sam was confused, "Maybe. Why not?"

"Oh I don't know...Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" he asked casually.

"No and she's not ever going to know" he told him sternly.

He almost laughed, "Well that's healthy. And to think you gave me relationship advice. You can pretend all you want, Sammy" He started walking off down the bridge, "But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are."

He followed him and asked, "Who is that?"

Dean turned and smiled, "One of us"

He shook his head, "No, I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life"

"Well you've got a responsibility" he shrugged.

"To who? To dad and Mom? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone, and she isn't coming back. And Dad's dead. Ali saw him go over that cliff. They're dead Dean. Get over it, the only thing that keeps you going is that fact you have nothing, no one else" he ranted.

Dean raged towards him and grabbed him by the collar before pushing him up against a pole on the side of the bridge, "Don't talk about her like that." He calmed down and let his brother go before seeing a dark haired woman dressed in white, "Sam"

He turned around too and saw her staring at them. She was holding on to the rail before looking out at the river and letting go. She began to fall and they ran towards her. There was no sign of anything in the water.

"Where'd she go?" Dean asked confused.

Sam answered, "I don't know"

Then there was the sound of an engine gearing up. They both felt deadweights hanging in the bottom of their stomachs.


	6. Room Nineteen

**Chapter Six- Room Nineteen**

_Hey! I am really sorry that its been so long since I last updated! I'm never going to get this finished at this rate! Haha! Enjoy! XD_

"What the…" Dean wondered aloud.

They both turned slowly. Neither of them had a good feeling about this. Then they saw it. Dean's car, the Impala, with its headlights on and the engine rumbling loudly under the hood. The only problem was Dean was stood next to Sam and Sam was stood next to Dean so who the hell was in the damn car?

"Who's driving your car?" Sam asked and gave him a sideways glance.

He didn't take his eyes off the vehicle as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. No one should be driving the car. Then Dean had a thought, what if some punk had hotwired his baby? He'd give them hell to pay. One problem with that theory- he couldn't see anyone in the driver's seat.

The car started to move towards them. It almost growled as it sped up. The estranged brother's looked at each other briefly before running to the edge of the bridge.

"Come on Dean! Go!" Sam shouted as he saw him jump over the rail that ran along the edge of the bridge and followed him seconds later.

He was holding onto the railing below the one he'd just jumped over. This was a time when he was glad of his upper body strength. He looked around and couldn't see the figure of a shorter man anywhere. He looked down and saw the river moving slowly. He'd jumped off of the bridge.

"Dean? Dean!" he shouted towards the water. Panic started to rise in Sam. Had he drifted off? Been knocked out and had drowned? No. it wasn't possible, Dean was the best person at hunting. He couldn't make a stupid mistake. He couldn't leave him with no family at all. Could he?

There was movement near the bank. A figure was half out of the water and it shouted up at him "What?"

Sam felt a sigh of relief, Dean was alive, "hey, you okay?"

He was covered in mud. Head to toe in the stuff. He wiped it out of his eyes and stood up and gave a sarcastic reply, "I'm super"

He barked a laugh and started to climb back up onto the bridge. The comment had proved that he was absolutely fine if a little dirty.

* * *

Half an hour later when Dean had been able to scramble up the bank and join him they checked out the car. It had stopped moving as soon as they had jumped over the edge.

"Car alright?" Sam asked from his leaning post on the rail, "I'm guessing it was Constance"

Dean looked up at him and nodded, "yeah, whatever she did to it, it seems alright now. What a bitch!"

He wandered over to the car and sat on the hood, "she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure"

The older man joined him, "you can say that again"

"So where's the trail go from here, genius?" Sam asked him a little tongue in cheek.

He shrugged, "motel somewhere. Search for any of the name's Dad used to use"

He nodded and looked at his hands, "why'd you jump off the bridge? Why didn't you grab the rail on the way down?"

"'Cause I didn't see it" Dean told him simply.

He chuckled a little, "how'd you survive this far…"

Both men smiled. They were getting used to each other again. A little at a time but they were getting there. The wind blew from the south and Sam was downwind of Dean.

He wrinkled his nose, "dude, you smell like a toilet"

They set off back to town in the Impala. Sam breathing through his mouth and staying as far away from the mud covered man as much as possible.

* * *

At the third and final motel in town the two brothers wandered into the lobby. If this idea went cold then they'd have to solve the case and move on. Ignore the idea that John Winchester may have ever been here or that he may even be alive.

The clerk smiled up at them. The guy asked, "How can I help you?"

Dean's patience had been wearing thin so Sam had taken over the talking ever since the first motel. Not that many people would want to converse with somebody who smelt or looked like they'd been for a swim in their toilet.

"Yeah" Sam started, "has a guy booked in here? John Campbell?"

He taped at the key board and stared at the monitor for a few seconds before looking back up at them, "yeah actually. Room nineteen, why?"

He nodded, "just an old friend we were meant to be meeting up with" he reached into Dean's jacket pocket earning him a curious look and handed it to the man, "one room until Monday please"

He took the card out of his hand and they had their room shortly afterwards.

* * *

After Sam had slept for an hour and Dean had scrubbed up they entered the room. Well Dean stood watch outside while Sam picked the lock. When it clicked and the door opened a little he walked in almost dragging Dean in with him.

The room wasn't what they were expecting. The bed was unmade and half eaten food had been left in the wrappers on the desk and nightstand. On the walls newspaper clippings and printouts were pinned up everywhere.

"Whoa" was all Sam could say as he walked up to the wall where there were clippings of the disappearances. In his way was a table surrounded by a circle of salt.

Dean wandered over to the bed and switched on the lamp. There was a burger underneath it and he sniffed at it. It was rotting, "I don't think he's been here for a couple of days at least"

"You know that from smelling a burger?" he was shocked if a little impressed.

He shrugged, "my talents are endless Sammy"

"Hmm" was all he had to say as he fumbled with the salt, "Salt, cats-eye shells. He was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in, but what? What would get him so worried and are we even sure that this is Dad?"

"No one else uses that name. No other hunter" was all he said as he inspected the articles, "Centennial Highway victims. I don't get it. I mean different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?"

"He figured it out" Sam told him. He looked up at the woman in white article.

"What you mean?" he asked.

He laughed, "He found the same article as us. Constance Welch, she's a woman in white"

"You sly dogs" Dean whispered as he looked at the profiles of the victims posted up on the walls, "All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it"

"Stop saying its Dad, we have no proof it's him" Sam told him, "I want him to be alive as much as you do but we have to be realistic here"

This dampened his spirits, "yeah, I understand but he would've salted and burned her"

"She may have another weakness" he supposed.

Dean shook his head, "he'd want to make sure. He'd dig her up, does it say where she's buried?"

Sam looked at the article a little closer, "no, not that I can tell. I bet Dad or whoever would go talk to the husband. If he's even alive"

"Alright, you try and find an address. I'm going to find some pie" he grinned and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey Dean" he called out and he stopped and turned around, "what I said earlier about Mom and Dad. I'm sorry and"

Dean held his hands up just like he used to, "no chick flick moments"

"All right" Sam said and tacked on the end, "jerk"

"Bitch" he smiled and left the room.

Sam turned and saw a photograph on the bedside table. He picked it up and saw that it was one from their trips with their Dad. Dean looked about eight and Sam looked around three or four-ish. He'd been a small kid and sprouted up during the last year of High School. They were sitting near the pick up that their Dad had owned and he held them proudly in his arms. Considering they only saw him every five to six months every moment they could grab with him was important. Until he decided that they were old enough to learn what he did as a living.


End file.
